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Binghamton mayor moves to lockdown trouble properties

The City of Binghamton is starting a new effort to crack down on residential properties with repeated criminal activity. If the city deems a property a public nuisance, they’re just going to lock it down until the landlord fixes the problems.

When Rich David ran for mayor of the City of Binghamton, he promised to crack down on crime. Now, he’s looking to make good on that promise.

David’s shaking the dust off a law that hasn’t been used for eight years. For every crime that is reported, the property where it happened is given points. Once a property scores more than 12 points in six months, the city locks it down. On Wednesday, the mayor identified 13 homes that he plans to board up.

“These troubled properties collectively have been the sites of murder, assaults, rape, drug activity, and other general disturbances.”

Each landlord will be sent a warning that the city plans to board up their site. They have to come up with a plan to fix their property. If they don’t, the courts can shut them down.

David says the tenants aren’t the intended targets, it’s delinquent landlords the city is after.

“They are not over concerned about the type of activities that are going on at their properties, the caliber of residents they are renting to, the type of illegal activities that are taking place and the impact that is having on the neighborhoods. They just want to collect their rental income.”

David hopes cutting off the flow of money to the landlords will motivate more of them to fix up their properties.